We usually begin the facilitators meetings with a round of introductions. Many of the people who join the meetings have become regular attendees. There’s a wealth of friendship and support – it mirrors many of the groups in the network . We also take turns at facilitating so we can share the load and share our different styles too.
We also have some people who come along maybe once a month or every now and again, and that is brilliant. We do limit how many people come because we want to make sure it is a meaningful experience for everyone (as much as possible).
In the last couple of weeks a new lady has joined, she came back, thankfully, a second time. Last week she looked a bit bemused when we kicked off with our pancake conversation. But this week when we began with which character we thought we were from the Muppets she was right in there. The only bemused face there was the ‘child’ of the 1990s – The Muppets weren’t really ever on her radar.
In these extraordinary times we have felt the value of being able to laugh and cry together too.
Just before the Zoom meeting I received an email sharing the news of yet another ‘loss of a voice’. His family had contacted the group facilitator to say how much being part of the DEEP Network had meant to him giving him ‘purpose and meaning’. So, to be fair I felt a bit wobbly and felt able to share with the group. The facilitator group is an eclectic combination of paid/unpaid and people living with dementia. Everybody could relate to the power of that statement and for a moment we were brought together in mutual grief, empathy and just knowing exactly what that ‘purpose and meaning’ meant.
It might feel like an unlikely combination in a one hour meeting to go from an extreme of The Muppets to sharing grief…. and there was so much more too.
Paul shared hot off the press news in Oldham. People who are unpaid carers will receive their COVID-19 vaccination at the same time as the person they care for. Oldham will also be providing free PPE (Personal Protection Equipment). What we don’t know is if this is happening in other areas? But certainly worth challenging in your local area…. they are doing this is Oldham – why can’t you offer that to us here?
‘Lifting the cloud’ hosted by Making Space in Derby have been busy knitting purple hippos. Purple hippos come from Fife and the STAND group mascot ‘campus’. Wendy discovered a connection with hippos in Derby. Apparently there is a history of hippos in Derby and a hippo skeleton has even been unearthed. We think that the first group twinning has been born by the shared hippo theme. Watch this space!
A question was raised about different groups being formed by other charities or organisations. Any charity, organisation or person(s) can set up a group which could be part of the network as long as it embraces the DEEP values. DEEP ten points to setting up a group and values
We suggested offering an invitation to one of the leading charities to come along to have a chat about groups. This has been actioned on behalf of the group.
We began a conversation about the next three months. What we can do to begin to think about re-engaging.
Clare said that ‘Experts-by-Experience’ in Bradford has flourished during lockdown and they have new members from across the UK. She wonders what they are going to do when they can meet again in person and how to continue to include the new virtual membership. She says they are lucky because they have big screen facilities at the University to include people virtually, but she’s not sure how people will feel about it.
We briefly touched on decreased skills and confidence to get back out there. It’s not going to happen quickly.
After the session coincidentally this popped up on twitter from CADR (Centre for Aging and Dementia Research):
Let’s “Get there together”
Please help us review our video resources for this important project
We would like to ask your opinions about some short video clips. The videos are being created to support people affected by dementia to gain confidence getting back into community life after COVID 19 pandemic restrictions are lifted.
Online groups will be held on March 5th and March12th
We want to hold two separate meetings with small groups of people (online) to tell us what they think about the clips.
· The first group would include people affected by dementia (living with dementia or a family member/carer of someone living with dementia).
· For the second group we are looking for people aged 50 or over who may have been “shielding” or have limited their usual social activities due to COVID.
How do I get involved?
If you are interested in taking part or would like more information about these online groups, please contact Owen Phillips on
The next facilitators meeting is on Wednesday 3rd March 12.30 – 1.30. We will be having a focus on young onset groups with special guest from the Young Dementia Network Tessa Gutteridge. If you are part of a young onset group as a facilitator or a group member please contact if you’d like to join in.
PS We promise we will never mention the Muppets again!
